Pacifism as pathology : reflections on the role of armed struggle in North America

Argues that while the ideology of nonviolent political action promises that the harsh realities of state power can be transcended through good feelings and purity of purpose, it is in fact a counter-revolutionary movement that defends and reinforces the same status-quo it claims to oppose. Churchill debunks the claims of historical pacifist victories, and proposes ways to diminish much of the delusion, aroma of racism, and sense of privilege which mark the covert self-defeatism of mainstream dissident politics. An important intervention, intended to generate badly-needed debate about the issue in the progressive community Direct Action Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America 1 Dedication 2 Contents 3 "For Diana Oughton" 4 Preface 5 Introduction: "Pacifism as Pathology" Revisited: Excavating a Debate 9 Notes 12 Pacifism as Pathology: Notes on an American Psuedopraxis 13 Like Lambs to the Slaughter 14 An Essential Contradiction 17 The Comfort Zone 22 Let's Pretend 31 The Buck Is Passed 34 Profile of a Pathology 37 Toward a Liberatory Praxis 40 A Therapeutic Approach to Pacifism 45 Conclusion 50 Notes 51 On Ward Churchill's "Pacifism as Pathology": Toward a Consistent Revolutionary Practice 64 Some Definitions 65 Arguments for Nonviolence 65 Nonviolence and the Third World 72 The Internal Colonies 74 Puerto Rico 77 Mexico 78 Women and Nonviolence 78 Nonviolence: Some Logical Inconsistencies 79 What Is to Be Done? 80 Notes 82 Index 83 Pacifism,Direct Action,Violence,Propaganda by the deed "Originally written during the mid-1980s, the seminal essay Pacifism as Pathology was prompted by veteran activist Ward Churchill's frustration with what he diagnosed as a growingand deliberately self-neutralizing"hegemony of nonviolence" on the North American left. The essay's publication unleashed a raging debate among activists in both the U.S. and Canada, a significant result of which was Michael Ryan's penning of a follow-up essay reinforcing Churchill's premise that nonviolence, at least as the term is popularly employed by white "progressives," is inherently counterrevolutionary. This book challenges the pacifist movement's heralded victories, suggesting that their success was in spite of, rather than because of, their nonviolent tactics. " -- Amazon.com Ward Churchill ; With Mike Ryan. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.